As he said this he lifted the body of the antelope with both hands, and placing it upon his shoulder, he went off toward the gorge.
Stasch whistled once more and waited, but as he found that it was of no avail, he followed Kali. In the gorge they found Mea busily cutting thorns from the hedge, and Nell, who was plucking their last bird with her tiny fingers, said:
“Did you whistle for Saba? He ran after you.”
“He ran after a buffalo which I shot and I am worried about him,” answered Stasch. “These animals are so large and powerful that even a lion is afraid to attack them. If Saba should try to fight one of them he would fare badly.”
When Nell heard this she was worried also, and declared that she would not go to bed until Saba returned. When Stasch saw how grieved she was he felt angry with himself for not having concealed the danger from her, and he tried to console her.
“I would have followed them with my rifle, but now they must be far away; besides, night is approaching and their trail can not be seen. The buffalo was hit squarely, and I hope it will fall. At any rate, it will be so much exhausted from loss of blood that even if it were to fall upon Saba, the dog could run away in time. Yes, he may not return till night, but he will surely return.”
Stasch himself did not believe what he said, because he remembered what he had heard about the vindictiveness of the African buffalo, which, even when severely wounded, runs round in a circle and watches to see which way the hunter goes, so as to attack him unawares, tossing him high in the air with its horns. Quite likely Saba might have met with a similar fate, besides other dangers to which he might be subjected in his journey by night.
As soon as it had become dark Kali and Mea managed to make a hedge fence, light a fire, and get supper ready. But even then there was no sign of Saba.
Nell became very uneasy and began to cry. Stasch insisted on her lying down and going to sleep, and he promised her to wait up for Saba and to look for him and bring him back as soon as daylight appeared. Nell entered the tent, but thrust out her little head continually to inquire if the dog had returned. She did not fall asleep till after midnight, when Mea left the tent to relieve Kali, who until now had watched by the fire.
“Why does the Daughter of the Moon cry?” asked Kali, and Stasch, as they both lay down on thin wooden benches to sleep, said: